Oat is a nutrient-rich food for both human and livestock feed. In order to meet the increasing demands by the development of Oat industry,modern Oat breeding requires the combination of modern molecular biology technology and traditional breeding methods. This article reviews world-wide main achievements and challenges in Oat genetics and breeding programs such as construction of genetic linkage map, QTL identification, genomic selection, and genetic engineering breeding. Meanwhile, the current problems and prospects of the application of molecular breeding in Oat are discussed. Thus, we hope that this review will help to find potential strategies of oat improvement and future perspectives for Oat breeding.